Hearts of the Innocent
by Serenitatis Cove
Summary: Everyone seems to be moving on, especially Mecha! What is his reason for wanting to leave home permanently? R&R please!


"What do you mean you can't watch her

Q.N. This is around seven months after the last 'fic. It's in the middle of October, the twelfth to be precise.

"What do you mean you can't watch her? I can't take her with me shopping," Snively inquired. He was talking to Serenity's day care sitter over the phone and the conversation wasn't going as he had planned. The sitter couldn't watch her because one of the other children was previously sick and had given it to her. And she wasn't about to give it to anyone else, especially her charges, as she had explained to her favorite charge's father. "Isn't there someone...? I understand. Thank you."

He hung up and looked at his youngest daughter. She would be turning four in exactly two months. She had started going to preschool in the morning and went to daycare in the afternoon. He thought it was best for her not being quite so used to being at home all of the time. He had assumed it would help wean her of her dependence on him. And she loved going to preschool and daycare, which made it easier on his behalf. His other two were in school; Mecha at college and Hope in high school. He suddenly felt old; all of his children seemed to be growing up so fast. He picked his daughter up, she squirming in his grip, and took her to her bedroom.

"I'm not sleepy, Daddy," she protested, not wanting a nap. She would much rather play. She had a new dump truck and wanted to play with it outside, though it was raining. She 'did' feel upset that she didn't have school and couldn't go to daycare; she loved those places. But, when her Daddy told her no, he meant it.

"Of course you're not," he muttered. She snapped to attention again to what he was saying. Aloud, her father said, "Just lay down for a while and you can get up soon."

"Okay, Daddy." He kissed her forehead and left the room going to the kitchen. He went through the cabinets and fridge, seeing what he was low on or didn't have at all, making a list. He thought about getting a few extra things for his children, seeing they've been very good lately. He waited for an hour and got Chibi up from her bed before going to the store on Earth.

- - -

"Serenity Amber! Get back here this instant," Snively said angrily.

"No!" the small child said back, running around a shelf in the grocery store. He rounded the shelf and came to a halt quickly. His three-year-old was staring at a bleach blonde haired woman with soft brown eyes. 'She wouldn't,' he thought.

"Is this your daughter?" the woman inquired. 'She 'is' rather pretty, I suppose.'

"Uh, yes," he replied, walking up. "While we're on subject, this is Serenity and I'm Snively Kintobor."

"I'm Bianca Matthews." Bianca squatted down, looking at Chibi, and smiled.

"Hi, sweetie."

"Why do you have fruit in your shirt?" Chibi asked.

"I...don't have fruit in my shirt," Bianca answered, looking very confused. 'She wouldn't,' Serenity's father continued thinking.

"Yes, you do," the little girl protested. The child suddenly reached out and grabbed Bianca's chest and squeezed. The woman let out a high squeak while Snively scolded his daughter. 'She would, and she did.'

"I'm very sorry. I don't know what's gotten into her recently. If there's any thing I can do to make up for this, I'd be more than happy to oblige," he said quickly, feeling horrible of his daughter's insistence.

"Here's my number," Bianca said brazenly.

"For what?"

"A date," she said while walking away. "'Bye, Serenity."

"Hmm, Bianca Matthews." He smiled and looked at Chibi.

"Well, I suppose we should finish shopping and get home. After all, I do have a date to prepare for," Snively said, picking up his daughter.

"Daddy, can I get a cookie?" she inquired, pointing at the store's bakery, where a large display of cookies was being shown. She did not know what exactly a 'date' was nor did she care. She saw the big sunshine cookie and wanted it.

"Why not?" he said, not able to rid himself of the smile he was wearing. He decided he would get one too, and saw the delighted look on his daughter's face.

"Yea!"

- - -

"Hope, have you seen your mother's acoustic guitar?" her father inquired later that evening during dinner.

"No, why?" Hope replied between bites of her baked potato.

"I can't seem to remember where I've placed it. And please chew with your mouth closed."

"Dad, I'm sure it'll turn up soon," Mecha said abruptly. He glanced sideways at Hope, who lowered her eyes. Snively noticed the look, which seemed odd to him because the two of them were very close.

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

"Nothing; Hope's just been asking me about her history homework," Mecha answered quickly.

"I see. Finish up."

"Dad, Chibi told us about that 'accident' today at the supermarket," Hope smirked, quickly changing the subject.

"Uh, I-I don't think that's an i-important right now," their father said quickly.

"So, what's her name?" Hope prompted.

"Bianca and she's very beautiful, but clearly not as radiant as your mother," he confessed, looking pleased. "And, I just happen to have her phone number."

"Yeah, right," Mecha said, rolling his eyes.

"I do!" Snively insisted.

"Whatevair," Chibi said, getting curious looks from the rest of her family. She liked their surprised reactions. 'They're faces look funny! Antoine has lots of funny things to say that are fun to say too.' The rest of the meal was continued with the older siblings telling about their school day.

- - -

"Hello? Miss Matthews?"

"Yes?"

"This i-is Snively Kintobor. We met at the supermarket?" he said into the phone. He had to look for it for an hour because Chibi had thought it would be fun to hide it. He had spent an hour at the mercy of his three-year-old daughter trying to get his phone so he could have the conversation he was having.

"Oh, okay. Hi," Bianca replied over the phone.

"Are you...available on Friday evening?"

"Of course. What time?"

"What time what?"

"What time are you going to pick me up?"

"I was thinking of a movie at seven, so six. That way, we can eat dinner," he replied.

"Sounds great. I can't wait."

"I know what you mean," he laughed. "I have to go; Serenity will probably want to be tucked in."

"Tell her I said hi," Bianca said while hanging up.

"Daddy! Hope said that Bee-onca is going to be my new mommy!" Chibi wailed, running into his bedroom. She tripped over a rug, and fell to the floor, crying even harder. 'She does seem to have more difficulty walking than she should,' he thought. He picked her up, carrying her into the Main Room.

"Hope! Get in here," he said.

"What?!" Hope demanded, stomping into the room. 'Lovely, her attitude just happens to show up again. Perhaps it is a matter I should discuss with Rosie. She might know what to do about it.'

"First of all, don't use that tone with me. Secondly, why did you tell your sister that Bianca would be her new mother?"

"Dad, you practically go for the first woman you see that you think is hot," Hope snapped.

"Since Mom died, you've completely lost your dignity!" she continued.

"Hope Elizabeth Kintobor! What did I just say!? Go to your room, now."

"I hate you." She stormed off to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. 'Here we go again. She has her temper, yet Sam is not her biological mother. I suppose I should talk to her about that.'

"I'll go see if she's okay," Mecha spoke, coming in with Mina.

"Uh--no, I will. You have something to tell your father," Mina said. The mongoose went down the hall and knocked on Hope's door, then went inside the room when it had opened for her.

"What is it you need to discuss with me?" Snively queried.

"Uh...Dad, you know how you and Mom adopted me?" Mecha said, looking nervous.

"Yes, what about it?" Snively questioned.

"I don't want to come off ungrateful, because I am."

"Mecha, what's wrong?"

"...Snively, I don't want to be adopted anymore," Mecha said, acting as if it pained him to admit that.

"Is...this what you've been wanting to tell me?" Snively asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?" the hedgehog asked, astounded.

"You have been avoiding me lately; I just didn't know why."

"Mecha, did you--?" Mina queried, coming inside of the room. 'That didn't last long,' Snively decided.

"Yeah."

"All of it?"

"I was going to before you interrupted me."

"Oh, well, continue."

"How much is there precisely? I still have to put Chibi down for bed," the Overlander spoke.

"Not that much...Mina's going to go back to Mercia in a few days to stay...and I wanna go with her, and stay with her. I mean we have been going out practically almost since we met and-"

"I understand. If you need any help, any at all, contact me."

"I mean, Dad! You're thirty. If Mina and I ever decide to get married and have kids of our own, you'd be an early grandfather."

"If there is anything you need me for- marriage? Kids? Where is that coming from?" Snively inquired, suspicion awakened. Mina's face turned pink while Mecha had a mortified expression on his.

"What did you do?" the human asked, knowing something was wrong. He could see it in their expressions.

"Dad," Hope said, coming in.

"Not now."

"But Dad."

"Hope, not now. This isn't the time."

"But Dad, Mina and Mecha had-"

"Hope! Dad said 'not now!'" her brother squeaked. "Besides, you said you wouldn't squeal on me if I didn't squeal on you."

"Daddy, aren'tcha gonna tuck me in?" Serenity asked, coming in with her blanket in one hand, dragging the periwinkle blanket on the floor while holding her brown stuffed rabbit by its ear in the other hand.

"Yes, I am. Come." Her father picked her up, wrapping her in her blanket while she lay her tired head on his shoulder, yawning, drifting off to sleep.

"You two will stay here until we deal with this. Mina, feel free to leave." He carried his youngest to her bedroom, laying her in her bed, noticing she was starting to feel a little heavier.

"'Night, Daddy," the child said sleepily. He tucked her in, kissing her forehead.

"Goodnight, Sweetheart," he said, turning on her nightlight.

"I love you, Daddy." He stood by the door frame and smiled, reveling in what his daughter had said. He had never thought he'd like being a parent. How wrong he was those five and beyond years ago.

"I love you too, Serenity." He turned off the light and shut the door partially. He walked into the living room, where Hope and Mecha were seated, sitting opposite of each other.

"Now, would one of you please tell me what is going on? We will stay here all night if we have to," Snively said firmly.

"But, Dad! I have a history test tomorrow," Hope whined.

"Dad, Hope has Mom's acoustic guitar," Mecha burst.

"Mecha screwed Mina and got her pregnant!" Hope retorted obnoxiously.

"Hope!" Mecha squeaked, feeling as if his throat was constricting.

"Hope, go to your bedroom," her father said. She strode to her room, glaring at her brother while passing him, who returned a mutual glare of anger.

"Mecha, is this why you desire to leave?" Snively said, once he was sure Hope was out of hearing range.

"Well, sort of. But, I really love Mina and I'd do anything for her. You have to understand that," Mecha replied.

"I do. I know exactly what you mean."

"Are you angry?" the green hedgehog asked.

"I'm disappointed in you, but no, I'm not angry." Mecha sighed in relief; he was waiting for some type of punishment.

"However, I had thought your mother and I had taught you to wait until marriage."

"I know, but I wanted to show her how much I loved her." The older of the two looked troubled, like he was pondering over something important.

"If...if you leave for Mercia, don't look back. It's harder to leave if you do. Don't come back for several months; use that time to get used to your new home and life. Do you understand?" Snively told him.

"Yeah, I do. Thanks." Mecha looked over at the clock on the wall. "Maybe you should wait until tomorrow to talk to Hope. It's late."

"Goodnight." Snively left the room, going to his own bedroom to retire for the night. 'I'm going to be a father. I'm leaving home for the first time. I've met the love of my life...and Mom has to miss it all, as usual," Mecha thought. He finally got up himself, going to bed.

- - -

The next day was uneventful to an extent for Snively. He took Hope to school, Mecha to college and Chibi to daycare. He was discussing a mission plan with Sally and Sonic when Antoine launched himself into the hut, looking terrified.

"Ant, what are ya doin'?" Sonic demanded.

"We're under attack! Ann's here" the fox howled. The other three ran out of the hut, seeing Antoine was true to his words. Most of the village had already been captured while the core Freedom Fighters tried to fend off the assault. Snively called Sophia, dialing her number as fast as he could.

"Hello?"

"Sophia, round up the Senshi! Knothole's under attack."

"Who's attacking?" 'What's wrong with her? This is serious!'

"I have reason to believe it's the Underworld."

"I'm sending help now." He was about to reply when he was hit over the head and fell to the ground, feeling like he was losing consciousness quickly.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of her," a male voice said, then laughed as if whatever he said was hilarious, except it was not.

"Xavier, what are you doing?" Another voice, Ann's, asked.

"Settling some business. Come, we have much to prepare for," Xavier replied.

"What if this 'rebirth' thing doesn't work?"

"We won't lose much."

Ann smirked, "but they will."

The duo walked away, ordering their army, who was battling the Senshi, to leave. Snively rolled over onto his back, cringing when his head touched the soft ground. There had to be a contusion there, a very large one. Sydney ran over to Snively, who was starting to pick himself up off of the ground.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. Who's missing?" he replied.

"Missing? What are you talking about?" Rotor queried.

"Xavier said we're losing someone valuable. He said he'd 'take good care of her.'"

"Nothing appears to be damaged," Sally said, walking up with Sonic.

"Sam," Sydney said unexpectedly, running off to the Power Ring Pool. The others followed quickly, knowing what was wrong, but still hoping it wasn't what they thought. The glass case to Sam's coffin was shattered, glass surrounding the area, the body belonging to the casket gone.

"I should have been here to protect her," Snively said.

"It wasn't your fault. No one could have predicted this, including the Prophecy Sisters," Alex said.

"Don't put yourself through all that guilt. It's not worth it," Erika agreed.

"Maybe we should clean this up before someone steps on it," Sally suggested, the others nodding in approvement of the idea.

"I've got to pick Hope, Mecha, and Serenity up," the only male human said, walking in the direction of his home.

"He's dwelling," Sophia commented, "when he has nothing to feel remorse for."

- - -

"Hey, Dad, lookin' good," Hope said to her father, who was staring in the mirror, straightening his shirt collar.

"Thank you...Are you sure you can handle babysitting your sister?" Snively inquired, turning to face her.

"Yeah, and besides, if I need help, I can ask Rosie for it." He kissed the top of her head, she frowning in annoyance.

"Hope, I need to discuss something with you later," he said, seeing her avoid eye contact with him.

"Dad, I just wanted to learn how to play Mom's guitar. Erika's been giving me help and stuff. I didn't mean anything wrong by it," she explained.

"As long as that is what you're doing, I do not mind," her father answered, giving her a faint smile. His other daughter ran up to him, still carrying her stuffed rabbit, wanting to be held. He picked her up, giving her a hug and a kiss on the forehead. He picked up his wallet and cell-phone and pocketed them. He set his youngest down, giving Hope a look as to suggest to her to keep her sister busy so he could leave.

Hope took Chibi to her bedroom while their father left in a portal. He got into his SUV, planning on going to the city's court house first, before it closed for the weekend. He walked up to the secretary's desk, with his son's adoption certificate in hand.

"Can I help you with something?" the secretary inquired testily.

"Uh, yes. Is there any way to cancel this adoption?" the woman took the certificate and read it, then looked at him.

"Yes, but we need a few papers for standard procedures."

"Papers? How long is this going to take?" he inquired, glancing at the clock.

"Around ten minutes. Do you have the papers?"

"Uh, yes, just let me go get them," he said, walking quickly to the door, striding even more quickly to his vehicle. He fumbled through a manila envelope, searching for the forms of Mecha's adoption. As soon as he found them, he sprinted back inside, startling the secretary.

"Here they are!" Snively said, throwing the documents on the desk, trying to catch his breath. The woman at the desk took them, typing the information in the computer quickly. He paced around the room, impatiently waiting for the secretary to finish.

"Here you go," she finally spoke, thirty minutes later, causing Snively to jump.

"Thank you," he muttered loudly, picking up his documents and hurried away to his SUV. He drove off, hoping he wouldn't be late. He took as many of the short cuts he knew to his date's home, glancing at the speedometer and clock every few seconds. He pulled into the drive, muttering a curse then quickly walked up to Bianca's doorstep and promptly rang the doorbell. She answered a couple moments later, giving him a smile.

"Hey, you're a little early," Bianca commented.

"I am?"

"Yeah, by about fifteen minutes. But we can leave now if you want."

"That'd be great," he replied. She locked the door to her house, which seemed very small to Snively, and followed him to the vehicle.

"Such chivalry," she commented as he opened the passenger door and helped her into the SUV. He got in on the other side and backed up, heading to La Botte Ristorante. After they finished their meal (Bianca amazed by the entire experience), he drove her to a movie theater, letting her out at the entrance of the theater. He walked up to her, after he'd parked, seeing her puzzled look.

"What's wrong?" Snively asked.

"I was trying to decide on what we should see that you'd like," Bianca replied.

"Well, what do you want to see?"

"It's a chick flick, so I don't think you'll like it."

"It's your night, so you may see whatever you'd like."

"Oh...okay. First time I've ever heard that...How about that one?" He knew the movie was a thriller and he 'did' want to see it, but he wasn't sure if she was wanting to see it because he would like it or if she had actually wanted to see it. He paid for their tickets regardless and he and Bianca went inside, sitting in the back. She leaned her head on his shoulder, his arm going around her shoulders, pulling her closer. They watched the movie in silence, enjoying the film and the time they were spending together. As soon as the film was over, Snively drove Bianca home, discussing the movie with her.

"Would you like to come in?" she inquired once he pulled into her drive.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. I left Hope in charge of Serenity this evening and I promised I'd be home early enough to tuck Serenity into bed," he replied, walking her up to her front door.

"But it'll only be for a moment," she said.

'I know I'll regret it later, but,' he thought, "alright, but only for a moment." She let him in, noticing how cautious he was being.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh, no, I'm fine."

"Please, sit," she said, gesturing towards the couch.

"Thank you," he answered, sitting down.

"I had a really great time tonight. You're quite the gentleman, you know," she commented.

"Thank you. I myself had a great time." He thought for a moment. "Is it...alright if I'"

"-kiss me?"

"Yes, but if you don-" she bent over to him and kissed his cheek quickly. He pulled her carefully to him, brushing any stray hair out of her face, giving her a long kiss.

"And you're a good kisser. You're a man of many talents, Mr. Kintobor," Bianca said, putting her arms around his neck, feeling his lips along her collarbone, gradually moving up to her lips. After what seemed like minutes later, he glanced at the clock, almost having to do a double take.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave," Snively said, pulling away from her gently.

"But, why?" Bianca inquired.

"Bianca, it's 12:45; I have to go home to my daughters."

"You know," she said, trying to sit on his lap, "I think a family man is very, very attractive."

"Yes, well, I believe I should go," he said, while getting up.

"Am I supposed to take that as you asking me on a second date?"

"I suppose so. Goodbye."

"'Bye, Snively." He drove to the parking garage, taking as many shortcuts as possible. He opened a portal, quickly going inside it. He saw Hope in the chair and Chibi on the couch, both asleep. He picked his youngest up and carried her into her bedroom, placing her in bed. He tucked her in, kissing her forehead. He went back to the Main Room and gently shook Hope. When she didn't wake up, he picked her up, his arms shaking, and carried her to her bedroom, putting her in bed as easy as possible without dropping her. He put a twenty dollar bill on her bed stand, knowing it was more than he had told her she was getting by fifteen dollars, shutting off her light.

He picked up the house, tidying any mess his daughters had made, which wasn't much. He got ready for bed, thankful he could finally rest. He thought about the date he had just been on, realizing he went further than he had anticipated on going. He got in bed, switching off his lamp, letting slumber take over almost immediately. What he didn't know was that he was being watched.

"How long should the rebirth take?" Ann inquired softly, not wanting to wake who they were watching up. She knew personally how light of a sleeper he was, unless if he was extremely exhausted or didn't feel well.

"Around four months. Come, we have much to prepare for," Xavier replied, just as quiet. They walked into the darkness of the dense Great Forest, disappearing into the night.

To be continued...

Q.N.

Wow, this has taken me awhile to write! If you didn't already know, I 'handwrite' everything, then type it. It was the typing I was putting off. The title of this was hardest thing to come up with. The next one is the series finale, but, it's not the end. The next one I am working on right now and I'm still blown away, and I'm the one writing it! Look for 'It's Not Over' because it'll be awesome!

Later!

M.P.


End file.
